Belgium vs Japan: Share of the population with tertiary education
Belgium
34.5%
in 2020
Japan
47.2%
in 2020
Belgium rank
11th
Japan rank
8th
Share of the population with tertiary education over time
- Belgium
- Japan
How they compare
Japan currently reports 47.2% against 34.5% in Belgium, a difference of 12.7%.
That makes Japan's figure about 1.4 times Belgium's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1870 it was Belgium ahead.
Belgium ranks 11th and Japan ranks 8th of 111 countries.
Across the 16 decades both report, Belgium averaged higher in 5 and Japan in 11.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Belgium | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.3% | Belgium |
| 1880s | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.5% | Belgium |
| 1890s | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0.6% | Belgium |
| 1900s | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.7% | Belgium |
| 1910s | 0.9% | 0.4% | 0.4% | Belgium |
| 1920s | 1.1% | 1.2% | 0.1% | Japan |
| 1930s | 1.5% | 2.4% | 0.8% | Japan |
| 1940s | 2.4% | 3.8% | 1.4% | Japan |
| 1950s | 3.5% | 5.4% | 1.9% | Japan |
| 1960s | 4.8% | 6.5% | 1.8% | Japan |
| 1970s | 7.7% | 9.0% | 1.3% | Japan |
| 1980s | 14.6% | 18.0% | 3.4% | Japan |
| 1990s | 22.8% | 26.0% | 3.2% | Japan |
| 2000s | 30.2% | 34.4% | 4.2% | Japan |
| 2010s | 34.8% | 42.4% | 7.6% | Japan |
| 2020s | 34.5% | 47.2% | 12.7% | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of the population with tertiary education, Belgium or Japan?
- Japan, at 47.2% against 34.5% in Belgium as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of the population with tertiary education between Belgium and Japan?
- 12.7%, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Japan?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1870 to 2020.
- How do Belgium and Japan rank globally for share of the population with tertiary education?
- Belgium ranks 11th and Japan ranks 8th of 111 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of the population with tertiary education. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Percentage of the population aged 25 to 65 years who have either completed or partially completed tertiary education.